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To ADVERTISERS . '"pHE Circulation of THE FREEMASON being - * - now at the rate of nearly Ilalf-a-million per annum , it offers peculiar facilities to all who advertise . It is well known that the Fraternity of Freemasons is a large and constantly increasing body , mainly composed of the influential and educated classes of society ; and as The Freemason is now the accepted organ of the Brotherhood in the United Kingdom , and also enjoys an extensive sale in the colonies and foreign parts , its advantages as an advertising medium can scarcely be overrated . For terms apply to GEORGE KENNING , 198 , FLEET STREET , LONDON , E . C .

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Notice To Subscribers.

NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS .

p The Office of ' THE FREEMASON is now transferred , to 19 8 , FLEET STREET , E . C . All communications for the Editor or PubliJicv should therefore be forwarded to that address .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

— — MARRIAGE . BAMFORD—GREEN . —On the 22 nd ult ., at St . Stephen ' s , Byrom-strcet , Liverpool , hy Bro . the Rev . II . Vernon , P . O . C ., Bro . Thos . Beckett Bamford , of Merchants ' Lodge , 241 , to Mary Ellen , se : ond d-. uighler of Mr . Thomas Green , both of Liverpool .

IDEA Tit . Eowvirn . —On the 29 th July , at the Grange Steeple , Aston , Oxfordshire , R . W . lira . Henry Atkins Bowyer , Lieut .-Colonel Oxford University Rifle Volunteers , aged 65 , Prov . G . Mailer for Oxfordshire .

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TheFreemason, SATURDAY , AI ' GUST 5 , 1 S 71 .

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The Antagonism Of Masonic Rites.

THE ANTAGONISM OF MASONIC RITES .

A GREAT deal lias been said of late about thc antagonism of certain Masonic rites , ancl a vast amount of misconception appears to prevail upon thc subject . A

little calm consideration of the questions involved will , however , enable us to dispel many of those deplorable fallacies which tend to alienate many good Masons , and to destroy the harmony which should ever

The Antagonism Of Masonic Rites.

prevail amongst the members of all branches of the Masonic system . In the first place , we may refer to the prolonged controversy which has filled the columns of

THE FREEMASON respecting the origin and claims of the Ancient and Accepted Rite . The opponents of the Rite assert that its basis is not only unsound , but that

in operation and results it is detrimental to the best interests of the Craft . They maintain that it establishes an impcrium in imperio not to be tolerated in any country

where a Grand Lodge of Symbolic Freemasonry exists . They contend that its administration is an ill-concealed despotism —obnoxious to the charge of injustice ,

corruption , and fraud . Such , in effect , is a summary of the bill of indictment brought against the Rite , and it cannot be said that we have overdrawn the picture . An

examination of the evidence by which the arraignment is sustained will not , however , justify such a sweeping condemnation . It has been well said by Mackey , a learned

American writer , that the York Rite of Symbolic Masonry is the mother of all rites , and that the others are so many schisms or deviations from that common

centre , But at the same time , it must be remembered that even as the British Constitution , admirable as it may be , is not adapted for every race or nation under the

sun , neither is thc grand simplicity of the " Three Degrees" suited to the tastes of the Fraternity in every land . Accordingly , we find that at a very early period after the

revival of Freemasonry in England additions , which it by no means follows were improvements , were made to the original structure . While all admitted that the

groundwork was beautiful , some thought the edifice would look better if a few more ornaments were added to the frieze , while others sought to subdivide the main hall of

thc mansion into so many less capacious chambers . Ramsay is credited with the dubious distinction of being one ofthe first innovators . The idea of equality was

undoubtedly repugnant to a mind which had been trained in the ultra-loyal school of Divine right ; and among the proud noblesse of France , Ramsay found many

disciples who would never have joined the Craft had he not opened to them thc inner sanctorum of thc chivalric degrees . It is therefore idle , at this time of day , to brand

thc promoters ofthe Ancient and Accepted Rite as knaves and impostors ; because in reality thc work had been begun long before their appearance on thc scene , and

the role which they undertook was simply that of organising a system out of thc chaotic medley of degrees which had been

previously invented . There is one point , however , upon which wc cannot so readily acquit them . When the Inspectors-General of the Rite framed their famous

Constitutionsat Charlcstonin 1 S 01 , they deliberately palmed off upon the Masonic public an unfounded statement , that Frederic the Great of Prussia had instituted the 33 rd degree , and had ratified the Constitutions

The Antagonism Of Masonic Rites.

which were then promulgated . It is now acknowledged by the Charleston Council itself that the statement was untrue , and it is also known by all who have investigated

the matter , that Frederic never took part in , or recognised , any but the first three degrees of Freemasonry . It is a popular error to fancy that English Masons

discountenanced , until a comparatively recent period , the innovations and inventions of their Continental brethren . Long before the Rite of Perfection of

twentyfive degrees was reduced into a system , several of Ramsay ' s theories had taken root in Great Britain and Germany . Beyond question , we may attribute to

him the germ , and to his enthusiastic successor , the Baron Hunde , the development of the many Templar organisations which spread so rapidlythroughout Europe .

One hundred and thirty years ago it was a moot point among German Masons whether the Templars would not , like Aaron ' s serpent , swallow up all the other orders and

rites of Freemasonry , and but for the schism caused by the establishment of the " Rite of Relaxed Observance , " in contra-distinction to that known as the " Strict

Observance , " Templarism would probably have won the day . But although ultimately defeated and almost annihilated in Germany and Holland , it triumphed in Sweden and

maintained its ground in England . There is abundant evidence to prove that the Grand Lodge of " All England , " at York , favoured the Templars , and in other parts of the

kingdom encampments were held down to the time of Dunckerley , who , with all the zeal of a convert , never rested until he had established a Grand Conclave for England

and Wales . In like manner , although the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , or "Rite of Perfection , " as it was then called , were not adopted in their entirety

by the Masons of England , the most important grades , such as the Rose Croix and the Kadosh , were regularly worked in connection with the Order of Knights

Templar . Some of Hunde ' s ceremonies were also preserved in the degrees of the Holy Sepulchre or Red Cross of Palestine , the White Cross or Knights of Malta , the

Knights of St . John the Evangelist , the Knights of Patmos , thc Priests of Melchiscdec , the Knights of Constantine , and several

others now known only by name , except to a few Masonic students . These are facts which should be borne in

mind by all who desire to understand tlie controversy as to thc relative claims of the Supreme Grand Council 33 ° for England and of thc old encampments or chapters

which appear to have conferred the Rose Croix and Kadosh degrees for many years according to thc old system . Thc objection made to thc Constitution of thc Ancient

and Accepted Rite , that it includes within its jurisdiction the first three degrees of the Order , is hardlv tenable so far as this

country is concerned—inasmuch as the members of the Council disclaim any interference with thc powers of Grand Lodge-